Public policy, footloose capital, and union influence

This document sets up a unionized general oligopolistic equilibrium model of countries, where capital is footloose and governments maximize utilitarian welfare. When capital owners have weak influence on public policy, there is unemployment and the governments compete for jobs, causing a distortion with suboptimal wages. Then globalization -- as characterized by a decrease in impediments to international investment -- increases the wage elasticity of capital flight, decreasing wages and increasing employment. This benefits the capital owners and the unemployed workers getting a job, but harms the other workers. International coordination of public policy alleviates these consequences of globalization.Peer reviewe

Population density and group size effects on reproductive behavior in a simultaneous hermaphrodite

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Despite growing evidence that population dynamic processes can have substantial effects on mating system evolution, little is known about their effect on mating rates in simultaneous hermaphrodites. According to theory, mating rate is expected to increase with mate availability because mating activity is primarily controlled by the male sexual function. A different scenario appears plausible in the hermaphroditic opisthobranch <it>Chelidonura sandrana</it>. Here, field mating rates are close to the female fitness optimum, suggesting that mating activity remains unresponsive to variation in mate availability.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Applying an experimental design that aims at independent experimental manipulation of density and social group size, we find substantial increases in mate encounter rate with both factors, but no statistically detectable effects on mating rate in <it>C. sandrana</it>. Instead, mating rate remained close to the earlier determined female fitness optimum.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>We demonstrate that mating rate in <it>C. sandrana </it>is largely unresponsive to variation in mate availability and is maintained close to the female fitness optimum. These findings challenge the prevailing notion of male driven mating rates in simultaneous hermaphrodites and call for complementary investigations of mating rate effects on fitness through the male sexual function.</p

Seasonal acclimatization to temperature in cardueline finches

1. Seasonal variation in body constituents and utilization of lipid, protein, and carbohydrate during cold stress in American goldfinches were studied to determine relations of these functions to the pronounced seasonal shift in thermogenic capacity documented in a previous study (Dawson and Carey, 1976).Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/47119/1/360_2004_Article_BF00686746.pd